Injectable magnesium oxychloride cement foam-derived scaffold for augmenting osteoporotic defect repair

Abstract

Hypothesis: Cement augmentation has been widely applied to promote osteoporotic fracture healing, whereas the existing calcium-based products suffer from the excessively slow degradation, which may impede bone regeneration. Magnesium oxychloride cement (MOC) shows promising biodegradation tendency and bioactivity, which is expected to be a potential alternative to the classic calcium-based cement for hard-tissue-engineering applications.

Experiments: Here, a hierarchical porous MOC foam (MOCF)-derived scaffold with favorable bio-resorption kinetic and superior bioactivity is fabricated through Pickering foaming technique. Then, a systematic characterization in terms of material properties and in vitro biological performance have been conducted to evaluate the feasibility of the as-prepared MOCF scaffold to be a bone-augmenting material for treating osteoporotic defects.

Findings: The developed MOCF shows excellent handling performance in the paste state, while exhibiting sufficient load-bearing capacity after solidification. In comparison with the traditional bone cement, calcium deficient hydroxyapatite (CDHA), our porous MOCF scaffold demonstrates a much higher biodegradation tendency and better cell recruitment ability. Additionally, the eluted bioactive ions by MOCF commits to a biologically inductive microenvironment, where the in vitro osteogenesis is significantly enhanced. It is anticipated that this advanced MOCF scaffold will be competitive for clinical therapies to augment osteoporotic bone regeneration.

Keywords: 3D hierarchical porous scaffold; Bone regeneration; Magnesium oxychloride cement foam; Osteoporotic bone repair; Pickering foaming technique.